Barcelona hired me to pick up drunk players, Messi's former bodyguard claims

11-Oct-2012 3:15:00 PM

The former Barca employee has recalled some of the situations he got into during his period at the Catalans as the players often needed his help

Daniel Rojo, who worked as Lionel Messi's 'bodyguard' among other things during his time at Barcelona, has revealed that he often had to visit nightclubs in order to pick up players who had drunk too much to drive.

Rojo, an ex-convict, was hired by the Catalans when Frank Rijkaard was in charge, occasionally found himself in remarkable situations, but added that the Dutch coach was in no position to complain about his players' behaviour.

"I started working for Barcelona in 2006, when Frank Rijkaard was the coach. The club sent me to pick up players who'd drunk too much and were in no condition to drive," Rojo was quoted as saying by La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"I once found a player having oral sex with two sisters in a night club's VIP area. He told me that he'd been photographed and that I had to find and delete the photos from the mobile phones.

"Rijkaard? What could he say about it as he didn’t exactly set a good example himself..."

Rojo also discussed his relationship with Messi, and praised the Argentine's humble attitude.

"At lunch Messi would sit next to me and listen to my stories. He had little to tell.

"Messi is a humble kid. Until now he's only trained and played, before he was banned from even meeting up with girls."